Chances
by DramaLexy
Summary: Everybody deserves a second chance. Sometimes they need a third or fourth, too. Story #4 in my Series (after Harm, Marks, and Pride)
1. Chapter 1

**TITLE:** Chances

**SUMMARY:** Everybody deserves a second chance. Sometimes they need a third or fourth, too. Story #4 in my Series (after Harm, Marks, and Pride)

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own, you don't sue.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Finishing this story took WAY longer than I had anticipated; I apologize. Life has been quite hectic. This will probably be the last story in the series, although I may entertain ideas of doing a shorter, holiday-themed 5th story.

* * *

None of the five children under the Adams-Foster roof are morning people; that is a well known fact. However, on certain occasions, they can get coaxed out of bed early. And the first Thursday morning in September was one of those occasions.

When Mariana felt a hand shaking her awake, her first instinct was to bury her head under her pillow. "Five more minutes," she murmured.

"C'mon, we can't sleep in today," Brandon whispered. After a moment, Mariana pulled her pillow back down.

"Oh… Right."

He smiled. "I'm going to go wake up Jesus."

"Okay." Brandon quietly slipped back out of the room. Mariana got out of bed and grabbed a robe before she headed downstairs to the kitchen. Sharon was at the counter, making coffee, and smiled when she saw her sleepy granddaughter.

"Hi, love bug. Too early for you, huh?"

Mariana returned her grin as she wiped at her eyes. "Yeah."

"Do you want to get started on the pancakes? We'll let the boys do the eggs and bacon."

"Okay."

Brandon and Jesus soon joined them, and they got to work on making breakfast. Twenty minutes later, when Stef and Lena entered the kitchen, they were surprised to see everything was already being taken care of.

"This was all their idea," Sharon told her daughter and daughter-in-law. "I just got recruited to help."

"Thank you, sweets," Stef said as she came over to hug the trio of teens.

"Do you need us to do anything?" Lena wondered.

Brandon shook his head. "We've got it. You guys can go do Adoption Day presents with Callie and Jude."

That earned them all another round of hugs from both moms. Stef and Lena had spent a lot of time over the past few days debating how they were going to handle Callie and Jude's Adoption Day. When they'd adopted the twins, they'd been very concerned about Brandon feeling like he was getting pushed aside. Most of that day had been all about the five of them as a family, with just a few stolen moments alone with their new children. This time, they had still planned to make most of the day be about their whole family, but it was really encouraging to know that the other kids understood the need for a bit of individual time.

"Thank you, guys," Lena told them. "I think today is going to be a great day."

* * *

Upstairs, Lena headed into the boys' room, while Stef went into the girls'. "Time to rise and shine," Lena told Jude as she shook his shoulder.

He stretched and yawned, then gave her a smile. "Hi, Mama."

"Hi, buddy. You remember what today is?"

Jude nodded. "We get adopted."

"Yep, you do. Mom and I wanted to talk with you and Callie before breakfast, okay?"

"All right."

% ^ % ^ % % ^ % ^ %

Callie was actually already awake when Stef came into her room; she was in front of her closet, picking out clothes. "Morning, love."

"Hey, S…" Callie paused for a moment, unsure what to say. Unlike her brother, she hadn't started calling Stef and Lena 'Mom' and 'Mama' yet. The words seemed strange coming out of her mouth. But using their first names also just seemed wrong. So normally she tried to avoid using either. Which lead to a lot of awkward moments. "Hey," she lamely finished.

Stef just let it go. She could understand her soon-to-be-daughter's struggle - even if it did feel a little bit like a rejection. "Can you come with me for a minute? Lena's getting Jude."

Callie put the shirt she'd selected on her bed. "Sure."

They all went into the master bedroom. Lena got a flat box out of the closet while everyone else sat on the bed. "We wanted to give you something that shows how much you mean to us, how much having you in our family means to us," Lena explained as she joined them. "We had a similar gift when we adopted the twins."

Callie took the box and Jude untied the ribbon. Lifting the lid revealed a framed poem:

_We've added to our family tree,_

_a stronger one to make._

_Two children from another plant_

_have become our new namesakes._

_Our family tree has been improved,_

_adoption made this so._

_For love, much more than bloodlines,_

_makes us thrive and grow._

_We chose to share our life and love_

_and all the joys to come._

_Our family tree has blossomed_

_with the addition of our new cherished ones._

Jude smiled as he finished reading. "I like it!"

"We had something for you, too," Callie told the moms. "It's not much…"

"I'm sure it's perfect," Stef assured her.

"I'll be right back." She headed for her room, then returned a moment later with an envelope in one hand and something else held behind her back. Lena opened the envelope and showed Stef what was inside - a Mother's Day card.

"It's kind of like Mother's Day all over again," Jude explained. "Only this time, you'll really be our moms."

It was one of those sweet Hallmark cards that all mothers love, and the women deeply appreciated the sentiment. "Thank you guys so much," Stef told them as she finished reading. "We can't wait to be your moms."

Lena's eyebrow rose as she realized how they had signed their names at the bottom: 'Callie and Jude Adams-Foster.' She and Stef had both hyphenated their names after the wedding, but all of the kids were still just Fosters, and they'd assumed Callie and Jude would be, too. "Why did you…"

"That's the present part," Callie explained. "We all talked about it and decided that we want to be Adams-Fosters, too. I mentioned it to our adoption lawyer after our last meeting, so that's what she put on the paperwork for today. And these," she produced some forms from behind her back, "Are for everyone else. You just have to sign and file them."

Stef and Lena looked at the papers and discovered they were legal name change petitions for Jesus, Mariana, and Brandon. Stef was stunned when she realized that Brandon's papers were already signed by Mike. "Is this real?" she wondered.

Jude nodded. "Yeah. Brandon laid a really good guilt trip on him." The young boy had thoroughly enjoyed hearing the story of that conversation. Brandon had finished his pitch to his father with the statement that if Mike didn't sign it, he would change his name at 18 anyway, so it was just delaying the inevitable.

"It helped that Foster was still going to be one of his names," Callie added. "So, do you like it?"

They both got wrapped up in hugs. "We love it," Lena promised. "This is amazing." She hadn't even realized until that moment how much it affected her that none of the kids had her name. She had agreed at the twins' adoption that it was more important all the siblings be bonded together, but now that she and Stef were a couple in the eyes of the law... This was more than she could have hoped for.

"We wanted to be one family," Jude told the moms. "And anybody who sees our names will know it."

* * *

Once everyone finished eating breakfast and getting dressed, they left to meet their other family members downtown. Dana unfortunately hadn't been able to fly to San Diego on short notice, but she sent her love (and presents) along with her husband. Stewart and Frank were standing together outside of the courthouse when the moms, kids, and Sharon arrived. The men each hugged all of their grandkids.

"Are you excited?" Stewart asked Callie and Jude.

Jude nodded. "I can't wait!"

Callie, however, seemed more restrained. "Hopefully, everything goes through," she quietly said.

Stef wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "Everything is going to be fine," she promised.

But Callie didn't have much faith that things would work out in her favor - they never had before. Her nerves only got worse as they went inside and waited for their turn with the judge. She was on pins and needles as the older man flipped through all of their paperwork. What if there was something in her file that he didn't like? There were certainly many different episodes that he could choose from if he wanted to make a stumbling block. What if he denied her adoption? Worse still, what if her past caused problems for her little brother, too?

"Where are Callie and Jude?" the judge asked.

Both of them stood up from their spots with the rest of their siblings in the front row. "Here, sir," Callie told him.

"You two have certainly had a time of it, haven't you?" he wondered.

"Yes, sir."

"Do you think you're going to be happy and secure in your new home?"

"Yes, sir."

"We have the best family in the world," Jude added. Lena and Stef turned and smiled at them.

The judge chuckled. "I'm very glad to hear that. Well, everything looks in order here; I'm granting your petition," he declared as he started signing the right forms. "The minor children are now the adopted children of Stefanie and Lena Adams-Foster, with all the related rights and responsibilities. And the children's names are now Callie and Jude Adams-Foster." He signed the last paper and then smiled at the family. "Congratulations."

Jude instantly went for hugs from his new moms, but his sister was just frozen in place. "Are you okay, sweetheart?" Lena asked as she held Jude.

"Did that really just happen?" Callie wondered. It seemed so quick, so easy after everything that they'd been through over the years. This couldn't be anything more than a dream, could it? A wonderful dream that she wished would never end.

Stef gave her new daughter a hug. "It really just happened," she assured the teen before kissing her forehead. "You're one of our babies now, forever." She could see that Callie's eyes were filling with tears and held her closer. "You don't have to worry anymore, love," Stef whispered. "You're always going to have a home and people to look out for you. You're going to be okay."

Callie sniffled. "Thank you."

Stef kissed her forehead again. Over the years, she'd heard so many people say how lucky foster and adopted children were to have a home, and how grateful they must be. Almost nobody talked about how lucky and grateful the parents were for having those children in their lives. "You don't ever have to thank us for loving you," she promised Callie.

* * *

The whole family gathered together up by the judge's seat in order to get photos. "This is my favorite part of this job," he happily proclaimed as they all crowded around. Their lawyer took shots of the entire group including grandparents, the moms and five kids, and just the moms and Callie and Jude.

Once they were done, Stef and Lena had to finish signing a couple forms. Callie watched them from a few steps away, just to be sure there were no issues. She wasn't sure what it would take for her to finally let he guard down a little, but she wasn't there yet. When Jude tapped her on the shoulder, she startled slightly.

"Who's that?" he asked his big sister, pointing to a man sitting in the back row of the courtroom. "He looks familiar."

Callie turned around to look, and all the color drained from her face. "Th-that's our father."

* * *

**TBC...**

**A/N2: The adoption letter given to Callie and Jude is a modified version of the poem "Our Family Tree" (unknown author).**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: You guys sure know how to put a smile on a girl's face. Thanks so much to everyone who sent feedback!**

* * *

Callie and Jude stared at the man sitting in the back of the courtroom. Trevor Jacobs smiled when he noticed that he had his children's attention. He gave them a little wave.

"Stay here," Callie told Jude before she marched over to her father. "What are you doing here? When did you get out of jail?"

His smile widened. "Hi, Callie. God, I can't believe how much you've grown."

"That's what happens over eight years," she snapped.

"True... I got paroled about a month ago. I've been trying to find out where you and Jude ended up."

"After 7 foster homes and 5 stints in group homes, we finally just got a family."

"I saw… Congratulations."

Her glare hardened further. "Don't."

Stef approached them, with Jude trailing behind her. "What are you doing here?" she asked Trevor as she put herself between him and the siblings.

"I wanted to see my kids."

"Legally, they aren't your kids," she pointed out. "And this is neither the time nor the place for a visit."

"I'm sorry. I just wanted - no, needed to see them. Hey, buddy," he told Jude.

The younger boy looked confused and conflicted. "Hi," he quietly replied. Callie wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

They all remained in a tense standoff for a moment. "Maybe something can get worked out for another day," Stef proposed as she eyed Trevor warily. "If Callie and Jude want to see you."

He nodded. "I look forward to it. I'll see you guys soon," he told the siblings before leaving the courtroom.

Stef turned around to face her newest kids. "Are you two okay?"

Callie looked a bit shell-shocked, but Jude nodded. "What did he say?" he asked his sister.

"Um, not much."

"I'm sorry this happened today," Stef told them. "We didn't even know that he'd gotten out of jail."

"A month ago, apparently," Callie spoke up.

"Do you want to talk about him?" Stef wondered, but she shook her head.

"No, we're fine." Before Stef had a chance to say anything else, Callie headed back over to where the rest of the family was waiting. With a shrug, Jude followed.

Lena raised an eyebrow at Stef as she rejoined her wife. "Who was that?" she quietly asked.

Stef sighed. "Most likely, trouble."

* * *

They all left the courthouse and headed to a local waterfront restaurant for a big lunch. Unfortunately, the celebration had been dampened a bit by Trevor's appearance. Callie and Jude were quiet during the drive, though at least Jude cracked a couple smiles. Callie stared out the window the whole time in silence.

Once they had ordered their meals, she slipped away under the pretense that she was going to the bathroom. However, Stewart noticed when she disappeared out the front door of the restaurant.

"I'll be back in a minute," he told his daughter.

Lena frowned slightly, following his gaze across the room. "What happened?"

"Not sure yet. But I'll get her."

She nodded. "Thank you."

% ^ % ^ % % ^ % ^ %

Callie was standing on the deck, looking out at the waves rolling onto the shore. "Quite a view, hmm?" Stewart asked her.

"Yeah."

They stood together for a long moment without talking, just enjoying the scenery. "I have something for you," he finally spoke up. "My wife picked it out," he admitted as he pulled a small box from the pocket of his sport coat.

Callie opened it to reveal a silver necklace with a small pendant in the shape of a star. A blue stone was set in the middle. "Wow."

Stewart smiled. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah… What's the sapphire for?"

"That's the birthstone for September."

She frowned. "My birthday isn't in September."

"We know. But this is when you came into this family, even if you weren't born into it. It's kind of like a birthday, right? The start of a new life."

Callie thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. Thank you. And tell, um... Tell Dana thank you, too."

Stewart noticed that she didn't say 'Grandma', but didn't comment. "I will," he agreed. "Are you going to come back inside?"

She shrugged. "In a bit."

"Okay…" He started to turn back toward the door, but stopped. "You know, my father walked out on my family when I was about Jude's age. I spent a long time wondering why he'd gone and what I could have done differently to have made him stay. And eventually I realized that what my father did with his life had nothing to do with me. He was a grown man and I was just a boy. I couldn't change what he did; all I could do was make my own choices and take care of my mother and sister."

Callie offered a little, forced smile. "Right," she unconvincingly agreed.

"I won't pretend to understand everything you've been through, but just… think about that."

She quickly nodded. "I guess we should go back," she said, tipping her head toward the door to the restaurant.

Stewart gave in. The walls Callie had built around herself wouldn't be torn down in a day. "Sure."

* * *

By the time that they got home that afternoon, Stef and Lena knew ignoring their courtroom surprise wasn't going to work. Brandon, Jesus, and Mariana went upstairs to give the moms a chance to talk with their newest children about their birth father.

Callie sat on the couch with her legs folded, hugging a pillow to her chest like it was a shield. Jude took the spot beside her, chewing on his blue fingernails. Stef and Lena noted the kids' apprehension as they joined them in the living room.

"We thought you guys should have a chance to discuss what happened today," Lena told them. "I'm sure having your father show up was a shock."

"Do we get to see him again?" Jude wondered.

Stef noticed that Callie tensed upon hearing her brother's question. "Well, we haven't talked to Bill yet, but if you want to see him, that can probably be arranged. We would be there, too, just to make sure you were okay."

Jude nodded. "I want to."

"Okay," Lena said. "How about you, Callie?"

She quickly shook her head. "No. I don't need him."

The moms exchanged a glance. "That's fine," Lena told her. "Or if you guys want to think about it some more, that's okay, too. Either of you can change your minds whenever you want."

"I'm not going to change my mind," Callie informed them. Jude looked a little confused by her attitude, but he didn't comment.

"We're not pressuring you either way," Stef assured them.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Lena asked.

Jude sighed. "Well… how come we didn't know he was out of jail?"

"We don't know," Stef replied. "You two should have been notified; it may have just been a clerical mistake by the courts."

"But he's all done with jail now?"

"I'm sure he's on parole, which means he has to stay out of trouble for a certain amount of time or else he'll go back to jail."

Jude nodded, ever the optimist. "He'll do it. Eight years in jail is long enough." Stef decided not to comment; serving eight years for taking three lives didn't seem like much of a trade to her. But that was how things could work out with first-offense vehicular manslaughter.

"Is there anything else you want to ask?" Lena inquired. Both kids shook their heads. "Okay. If you think of anything later... let us know. Do you have any homework left to finish for tomorrow?"

"English paper," Callie replied.

"Ooh, get going," Stef told her.

"Can you help me with my math?" Jude asked Lena.

"Sure, pal. Bring it down to the dining room."

"Okay. Thanks, Mama."

Lena smiled; she'd never get tired of hearing him call her that. "No problem."

Callie got up and headed for the stairs. "I'll be in my room," was all she said before disappearing up to the second floor. Jude followed so that he could get his backpack.

The moms exchanged a look once they were alone. "Patience," Stef told Lena with a little smile.

"I know. I just… I want to fix everything for them. Especially Callie."

"We may not be able to," the blonde pointed out. "But we'll certainly try."

* * *

**TBC...**


	3. Chapter 3

When Jude and Lena were done working on his math homework, she headed for the kitchen to start dinner and he ran back upstairs to put his books away. In the hallway, he almost collided with Jesus.

"Sorry," he automatically told the older boy.

"No worries, little bro."

Jude smiled. "I like that. Big bro."

Jesus laughed. "You want to go shoot some hoops?"

He shrugged. "I'm not very good," he reminded his brother.

"What's that got to do with it? How are you going to get better if you don't practice?"

Jude knew he had a point. "Okay."

Outside on the driveway, Jesus gave Jude a few pointers on shooting free-throws. The younger boy wasn't terribly accurate, but didn't give up.

"I was wondering about something," Jesus said as he retrieved the ball from the bushes after one of Jude's more errant shots. "What happened with your bio mom and dad? You and Callie almost never talk about them." He took a shot at the basket; it sunk in cleanly. Jude went to get the ball.

"There was an accident," he explained. "Our mom died."

"I'm sorry."

Jude nodded and tried shooting the ball. It bounced off the rim and headed into the bushes again. "Our dad made a mistake and was driving us home after he had some alcohol. So he had to go to jail."

Jesus was too surprised to go after the ball. "Wow. So then you had nobody left."

"Well, our mom's great-aunt was too old and sick to take care of us. And her cousin had his own two daughters already. So once he said no, we went into foster care."

Jesus couldn't imagine that; there hadn't been anyone else to ask about taking him and Mariana when they were removed from Ana's care. The twins didn't even know who their biological father was. He couldn't imagine having other family and watching them refuse to help you. "So what happens now that your dad is out of jail?"

Jude shrugged. "I don't know. He wants to see us."

"Do you wish you hadn't been adopted?" Jesus quietly asked as he went to get the ball.

The younger boy instantly shook his head. "I love my new family. Callie always said we couldn't go back to living with our dad, anyway."

"Are you going to see him?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Why not? He's made up for his mistake."

Jesus sighed. "If my birth mom had done something like that, I don't know if I could forgive her." The things that Ana had done to herself and her kids were bad enough, but at least she hadn't killed anyone.

"If she was sorry, why wouldn't you forgive her?" Jude wondered.

Jesus decided not to say anything and just took a shot with the basketball. There was no reason for him to try to strip his little brother of his innocence.

* * *

Late that night, once the kids were all in bed, the moms retreated to their own room and a discussion began about adopted kids and biological parents.

"I don't let myself think about it much," Stef told her wife as they folded clothes, "But I guess there's always a fear lurking that no matter what we do, we'll never measure up to their real parents."

"We ARE their real parents," Lena countered. "But they also have biological parents."

"Okay, fine. That's how I feel most days. But then something comes up with the twins and Ana or now Callie and Jude with Trevor… They're our kids, but there are other people that own parts of their lives. We will never be able to change that."

Lena raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know that we were trying to."

Stef rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. I love all of our kids with my whole heart, but… there are memories I have with Brandon that I'll never have with the rest of them. I mean, do you sometimes feel like there's something missing?"

Lena shrugged. "Sometimes. But I'd rather focus on what we've gained than what we lost. We got most of the twins' childhoods. We're going to get to see them and Callie and Jude grow up into amazing people."

"I know. But... some days, it feels like that isn't enough."

"They all know where home is. So I don't think it's a matter of measuring up. Our adopted kids all have unfinished chapters in their lives. There are so many memories - good and traumatic - that have been directly and indirectly caused by their biological parents. Unless that all gets wrapped up, they'll never totally be able to let go of their pasts. And frankly, wrapping up that complicated of a relationship may not be possible."

Stef sighed. "Yeah."

"But the kids know that here they are loved and supported, no matter what they do. That's all we can control; that and try to keep them safe."

"Mmm, I definitely agree with that last part. I'm going to check into Trevor at work tomorrow."

"Good."

"I don't want any of us to see him again if he doesn't have his act together; there's been enough trauma already."

* * *

Long after Mariana had gone to sleep, Callie remained awake in her bed, listening to music through the ear buds plugged into her phone and looking at an old picture.

The photo was one of very few things she had from her life 'before.' Before the accident, before foster care, before she knew what guilt was, and before she learned how to hate herself. It had been taken at the beach ten years earlier; her six-year-old self had been wearing a blue and white bathing suit and was beaming at the camera. She was kneeling beside a massive sand castle that she and her father had just finished building. Two-year-old Jude was in a t-shirt, shorts, and oversized sunglasses, sitting with their mother on the other side of the castle. For that moment, the four of them all looked so happy, so normal.

_I will not make  
__The same mistakes that you did  
__I will not let myself  
__Cause my heart so much misery_

The edges of the picture were worn from being handled so much over the years. She liked looking at her mother; there was nowhere else that she'd seemed so happy as when they were at the beach. She'd lay on a blanket and watch the waves. Callie loved snuggling up next to her for a nap in the sunshine. When it was time to go, Trevor would gather his sleepy daughter up in his arms and carry her home while her mother held Jude.

Sometimes it was easy for Callie to forget that they'd had good days; the bad ones had a much more lasting impact. But those memories of being happy and secure and loved had kept her going over the years. She'd always promised herself that, someday, Jude would once again know what that felt like.

_I will not break  
__The way you did, you fell so hard  
__I've learned the hard way  
__To never let it get that far_

Her eyes drifted from her mother to her father; Trevor had been kneeling beside his daughter, happily showing off what they'd accomplished. He'd liked doing little things with her, making special moments for her. One example was when he'd gotten off work and taken her for ice cream sundaes after her first day of first grade. He'd given her the money and let her go up to the register to pay, since she was such a grown up schoolgirl. And Callie had let that little outing make up for the fact that he'd come home drunk the night before and she'd had seen him slap her mother.

She stared at the picture for a moment longer before she took it in both hands and carefully ripped off the part with Trevor in it. She didn't want him to have a place in her life anymore.

_Because of you  
__I never strayed too far from the sidewalk  
__Because of you  
__I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt  
__Because of you  
__I find it hard to trust not only me but everyone around me  
__Because of you  
__I am afraid..._

* * *

**TBC...**

**Song Credit: "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson**


	4. Chapter 4

The following night, Stef picked up Chinese food on the way home for dinner. While she and Lena unpacked the containers in the kitchen, Stef told her wife about what she'd found out during the day.

"I talked to Bill and to Trevor's parole officer," she explained. "So far, he seems to be doing well. He's in AA, he's done some construction work… His PO isn't worried about him."

"What did Bill say?"

"First off, he apologized for us not knowing that Trevor got paroled. He's trying to figure out how that happened."

Lena shrugged. "Too late now."

"Yeah, I know. But he doesn't see a reason to keep Callie and Jude from visiting if they want to. He recommended the same stuff as with Ana - pick a neutral location and the first meeting should be relatively short. I suggested doing it this weekend so that things don't get drawn out any longer for the kids."

"Good plan. Callie's got therapy on Saturday."

"And Jesus has volleyball that evening, and Brandon's with Mike on Sunday, I know." Their schedule was always challenging. "But lunch on Sunday could work. Bill's handling the communication for the moment, so he said he'd check with Trevor."

"Okay."

Brandon and Mariana came into the kitchen at that moment. "I'm starving!" she complained.

"Well, then set out plates, love," Stef told her. "Brandon, can you go round up the rest of the troops?"

"Sure." He went over to the bottom of the stairs. "Hey! Dinner's ready!" he yelled up to the second floor.

Stef rolled her eyes. "I could have done THAT, B."

Callie, Jesus, and Jude came down into the kitchen a minute later. Jude helped with setting the table, while Jesus grabbed a bottle of soy sauce from the shelf - and then took out a bottle of ketchup.

"Really?" Lena incredulously asked him. "What is that going to go on?"

"My fried rice," he replied, as though it were obvious.

"I want to try it," Jude piped up. Lena put her head in her hands, making everyone else laugh.

Once they were all seated and the food had been dished out to everyone's plates, Jesus put ketchup all over his rice, then handed the bottle to Jude.

"Why don't you taste it on a little bit first?" Stef suggested, already certain that this experiment wasn't going to end well.

"Okay." Jude put just a little of the condiment on his plate, then mixed in some of the pork fried rice and tasted it. The look of disgust on his face was absolutely priceless and sent the rest of the family into raucous laughter. "How can you eat that?!" he asked his big brother.

Jesus shrugged. "Tastes good to me," he replied before shoveling some of his rice into his mouth.

Stef got up from the table to grab a bottle of sriracha hot sauce. "This works much better," she told her youngest son.

Lena shook her head. "I give up. At least I'm not the one who made the food you guys are destroying."

* * *

From the kids' point of view, the best thing about getting takeout was that it made post-meal cleanup easier. They breezed through their chores and agreed to the moms' suggestion of having a board game night. Stef was heating up water for a couple mugs of tea when her cell phone buzzed, signalling that she'd gotten an e-mail.

"You are not allowed to look at work stuff," Lena told her when she noticed her wife reading something on the device's screen.

"It's not work," Stef replied. "It's from Bill. Trevor was available this weekend. 9th Street Diner at noon on Sunday."

"What's on Sunday?" Jude asked as he, Callie, and Brandon came into the kitchen to get the popcorn.

"You're going to have lunch with your father," Lena told him.

"If you're still interested in going," Stef amended.

Jude nodded. "I want to go."

"Okay."

"How about you, Callie?" Lena gently asked.

She shook her head. "I'm not going," she said before she turned to get the popcorn - and effectively left the conversation. Brandon followed her lead.

"Where are we going?" Jude asked his mothers.

"That old diner on 9th. You like their burgers, right?"

He nodded. "Yummy."

Lena smiled. "Good. Should be a nice little outing."

* * *

In the end, since Callie and Jude were split up on Sunday, the moms also decided to split up. Stef took Jude to meet his father while Lena stayed home with Callie. They wanted to make sure that both of the siblings had someone to support them.

When they arrived at the diner, Jude hesitated before getting out of the car. "Mom?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"Are you mad at me?"

Stef turned to him, surprised. "For what, love?"

"Because I want to see my dad."

Stef sighed. Apparently she wasn't the only one struggling with how to make life work with both adoptive and biological parents. "No, my sweet. I'm not mad."

"Is Mama?"

"No, neither of us is upset."

"I really do love you," Jude promised. "And I'm glad I got adopted. If you don't want me to go, I won't. We can just go back home right now."

It was a tempting offer, but Stef knew that she couldn't take it. "No, love. We understand. This is something you feel you have to do. We will support you in whatever makes you happy." Jude slowly nodded. "Are you feeling a little nervous maybe?"

"Yeah… What if he doesn't like me?"

Stef kissed his forehead. "Then he's an idiot."

* * *

Back at the Adams-Foster house, Brandon had already left for his day with his own father, so it was just Callie and the twins. Callie had barely said two words to anyone in the family all morning and Lena knew that wasn't good for her.

"Hey, Cal?" she said as she came into the living room, where the three kids were watching TV. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"No, thanks."

Lena was surprised by that response. "What?"

"I know what you want to talk to me about, and I don't want to discuss it, so there's no need to go have a side chat upstairs or outside or whatever."

"Callie - "

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" she declared before leaving the room. The twins just stared at their mother for a long moment.

"I'm sorry about that, you guys," Lena finally told them with a sigh. She started to head toward the stairs to go find Callie, but Jesus stopped her.

"Hey, Mama? Let me talk to her, okay?"

"You sure you want to volunteer for that?"

Jesus nodded. "I think I've got some idea of what she's feeling right now."

* * *

**TBC...**


	5. Chapter 5

When Stef and Jude came into the diner, Trevor was already there waiting. After they'd all placed their orders and gotten their drinks, they could actually start talking.

Trevor smiled when he saw Jude's milkshake. "Vanilla's still your favorite, huh?" he asked his son.

"Yeah."

"Do you remember when we'd go to lunch on Sundays before?" Jude shook his head. "After Church, your mom and I would take you and your sister out for a treat. If you'd been good during the service, we'd let you two eat dessert first."

Jude frowned, trying to remember. "Did our mom sing at church?"

Trevor's grin widened. "Yeah! She was in the choir. God, she had the most beautiful voice."

"I think I remember hearing her."

"I'm glad… But you don't remember our lunches?" His smile had dimmed a few watts, disappointed that his son didn't share those good memories.

Jude shook his head. "Sorry."

"No, that's okay, buddy. You were real little... So, what grade are you in? Sixth or seventh?"

"Seventh. I go to a really cool charter school. It's right on the beach."

"Wow. What's your best subject?"

Jude sighed nervously. His academic record didn't hold much to be proud of. Hopefully he wouldn't be too much of a disappointment. "Um… I don't know. I'm not very good at math or english… Maybe art?"

Trevor laughed. "Yeah, I guess you got that from me. I was never much of a student, either."

Stef glanced over at him, unsure if that was supposed to be a pointed remark aimed at her. Was Trevor trying to remind her of the connection he'd always have with his son, regardless of who the courts said his parents were? Jude, however, didn't seem to notice.

"Callie always tried to help me with my homework," he explained. "Now, Mama works with me, too."

"And your grades have gotten a lot better," Stef reminded him. Jude nodded.

"What about outside of school?" Trevor wondered. "What do you like to do?"

"I like to read books and play video games. One of my big brothers is trying to teach me to play basketball; I'm not very good yet. And I started taekwondo lessons this summer."

"Oh, yeah?"

Jude nodded. "I'm about to get my next belt," he shyly added.

"Well, congratulations. Got a little karate kid here."

"I'm not that good. I've never really been good at sports. But it's fun."

Trevor nodded. "That's what's important."

% ^ % ^ % % ^ % ^ %

Their food was soon brought out, and Jude thoroughly enjoyed his cheeseburger. He noticed, however, as Trevor repeatedly glanced over at Stef. "What's wrong?" he asked his father.

"Nothing… So, how long have you been living in your new home?"

"Since early this year. Callie got placed there first, then me."

"They split you up?" he wondered, concerned.

"Yeah. She got taken away when she tried to protect me from our old foster dad. She got sent to juvie. But then they took me away from him, too, and put us back together."

"Jeez. I had no idea."

Jude frowned. Their father didn't know about anything that had happened to them in the past few years because they hadn't been in contact. "Why did you stop writing to us?" he wondered.

Trevor sighed. "Because… because I was a coward. It was hard, dealing with what had happened, losing you guys. Every time I got one of your letters… I'm sorry, I was just selfish. I hoped you were better off. Once I got out, I had to see you again, just to know that you were okay."

"We are, now," Jude told him, and noticed that Trevor glanced over at Stef again.

"Are you, really?" he wondered, hoping for an honest answer. Maybe he didn't have a right to be worried about Callie and Jude anymore after everything he'd done, but that didn't stop him.

"Yeah. We have great moms and brothers and a sister."

"You already had a mother," Trevor pointed out. It was hard for him to hear that title assigned to someone else. What he had done to her was bad enough, but were these strangers now trying to make their kids forget her?

Jude just shrugged. "I know. But now we also have ones we can live with, that take care of us." He smiled over at Stef, naked adoration in his eyes. "It was kinda an accident that we ended up at their house, but it was the best thing that ever happened to us."

Trevor smiled slightly as he watched Stef ruffle Jude's hair. He was mostly powerless to intervene in his children's lives, so all he could do was hope that his son's statement really was true.

* * *

Back at the Adams-Foster house, when Jesus came upstairs to the girls' room, Callie was laying on her bed with her cell phone in her hands. "Hey," he said as he knocked on the open door frame.

"Hey."

"Whatcha doing?"

"Texting with Wyatt."

"Cool. How is he?"

Callie rolled her eyes. "You're not here to discuss my social life."

Jesus sheepishly nodded. "Yeah, I asked Mama if I could talk to you."

She sat up with a sigh. "Fine. Let's hear it."

"Okay. When Mariana first talked about finding Ana, I thought she was nuts. After everything that had happened… She'd taken us to some horrible places, left us with some bad people. And then foster care didn't make anything better. I was mad at Mari and at Ana and I was scared of what the moms would think."

"And that whole thing worked out just great," Callie sarcastically pointed out.

"Yeah, not even close," Jesus agreed. "But I realized… I was afraid of Ana. Afraid that maybe she was the way she was because of us... Anyway, I figured out that I did have a right to be mad at her, and she is the way she is because of her. I used to be mad that she'd let us go, but we really did need to get away from her. We've got this family now, and it's even stronger than I'd ever realized. I wish things hadn't gotten so crazy, but I'm glad I got the chance to rethink my past and my adoption and all of that. 'Cause now I know I'm exactly where I ought to be."

"There's nowhere else for any of us to go," Callie dryly pointed out.

"True… Did that help at all?"

She forced a smile. "Sure." It was another very unconvincing reply. And Jesus knew it, but he wasn't sure what he else could do. His new sister was still such a mystery sometimes.

"Maybe nothing's changed with your dad," he told her. "And Jude just has to figure that out for himself. Or maybe he is different. Would that be so bad?"

Callie didn't answer.

* * *

After lunch was finished, Trevor walked outside with Stef and Jude. "I hope I can see you again," he told his son. "And your sister, too."

Jude shrugged. "Callie decides things for herself… But I'd like to see you again."

Trevor grinned. "Good."

Stef offered Jude a little reassuring smile. "Can you go get in the car?" she asked as she handed him the keys. "Don't drive off." Jude giggled. Once he was out of earshot, Stef turned to Trevor. "I'm going to say this once and only once. These kids have been through more than anyone ever should and been hurt more deeply than you can probably imagine. So if you have any intentions of doing something that's going to add more pain to their lives, do them a favor and walk away now."

Trevor just stared. "Hey, I don't - I'm not trying to hurt them."

"You already have," she couldn't help but retort.

"I know..." he replied, and seemed genuinely remorseful. "I can't change that now. But I want to do better. You'll see."

Stef eyed him for a moment, then nodded. "I hope so."

% ^ % ^ % % ^ % ^ %

Jude looked a little anxious when Stef joined him in the car. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Just needed to have a little chat. You don't need to worry." She started the engine.

"I'm not in trouble, right?" he verified one more time.

"No, love, not at all. Are you okay? Are you glad you came?"

Jude shrugged. "Yeah… I don't think I really remember what he was like before - other than stories that Callie's told me. But he seems nice now, right?"

"Well... he definitely seems interested in you and your well-being," was the most diplomatic response that she could come up with.

Jude settled back into his seat. "Yeah. I'm glad I went."

* * *

Back at the Adams-Foster house, Lena and Mariana were in the kitchen when Stef and Jude came in the back door. "How did it go?" Lena asked her youngest.

"Good."

"Really?"

Jude nodded. "Yeah. We just talked about school and karate and stuff. I want to see him again."

"What?" a voice cried. Everyone turned to see that Callie and Jesus had come downstairs into the kitchen, too. "You're kidding, right?" she asked her little brother.

Jude shook his head. "I want to get to know him. He's nice."

"He's a drunk!"

"Callie - " Stef started, but she didn't stop.

"You know that, right?" she asked her brother. "He cared more about drinking than his family. I used to think that he didn't have a choice when the court took away his rights to us, but I figured it out. He didn't even try to fight for us because he never wanted us in the first place."

"That's not true," Jude tried to protest.

"He killed the only person that actually gave a damn about us!"

"Okay, you, outside," Lena told Callie, reaching for her arm in case the teen tried to protest. "And this time, I'm not asking." It only took a small tug to get Callie to follow her out into the backyard, leaving the rest of the family stunned in the kitchen.

* * *

**TBC...**

**A/N: As always, thanks for the feedback on the previous chapters!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just a warning for sensitive readers. This chapter talks a little bit about self-harm.**

* * *

Jude looked like a fish out of water; his mouth opened a couple times as though he was going to say something, but no words ever made their way out. "Come on, love," Stef told him as she led him toward the staircase. He wordlessly followed.

Once they got to the moms' bedroom, Jude sat on the bed. "I-I don't understand," he finally said. "It was an accident. Right?"

Stef sighed as she sat next to him and held his hand. "I'm sure your father never thought there would be a crash. That's one of the side-effects of alcohol - poor judgement. But he hadn't had just one beer or something, Jude. He was drunk."

He shook his head. "But it was an accident. He made a mistake."

"Unfortunately, I think it was an inevitable mistake. He drank more than he should have. I'd be surprised if that was the first time he'd been behind the wheel while intoxicated."

Jude looked down. "What did she tell you?"

"What?"

"What did Callie tell you that she didn't tell me?"

"Not much," Stef assured him. "She doesn't talk about your early lives very often."

"But you know our dad did bad things?"

Stef sighed. "I'd looked at some files at work when you two first came here. A couple times, the police were called because people heard your parents fighting... I think your father may have hurt her."

Jude sucked in a breath. "So Callie was right. He is bad."

"He did some bad things," Stef corrected him. "You haven't seen him in years, Jude. Neither of you knows who he is now."

Jude slowly shook his head. "Why did she do it?" he wondered.

"Why did who do what?"

"Our first mom. If he was so bad, why didn't she leave him? Why didn't she try to protect us from him?"

That was the last place Stef had expected this conversation to go. "You don't know what the circumstances were," she tried to tell him.

"He could have killed all of us in the accident, couldn't he?" Jude realized. "Why did she stay?"

"She may have been trying to protect you in the only way she knew how. If she'd left, she may not have been able to support you. You could have been living on the street. Or she might have been afraid that he'd get angry. You can't play 'what if,' buddy. Things can seem easier looking back than they actually were at the time."

He slowly nodded. "Okay."

"There's nothing we can do to change the past. Now you just have to decide what you want going forward. Just think about you; don't worry about anyone else."

"I don't know."

She smiled. "You don't have to decide right this second."

"Okay... Mom?"

"Yeah, love?"

"Do you think he really cared about us?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. I didn't know him. But... if you want to try to figure out who he is now, Mama and I will be right beside you the whole way."

* * *

Out in the backyard, Lena and Callie sat at the table on the patio. "I know this is difficult for you," Lena told her, "And I understand you've got a lot of different feelings rolling around. But you were purposely trying to upset your brother and that is not okay."

Callie sighed. "I know."

"Talk to me, sweetheart. What's going on? We can't help if we don't know what you're thinking."

"I wish I could just hate him. But I hate myself, too."

"Why?"

"It was my fault, too. The accident. My mom died because of me."

"Callie, that's not true."

"I wasn't a baby! I knew what was going on; I knew what he was doing!"

"You were a little girl."

"I was old enough to help my mom cover for him." Hot tears were starting to slide down her face and she angrily wiped them away. "Can you hold my hands?" she requested.

Lena raised an eyebrow, but complied. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to do something to myself," Callie admitted. She'd come a long way in dealing with her self-harm, but knew they were going into territory that she normally tried to avoid.

Lena twined their fingers together. "I've got you, sweetheart. What happened?"

Callie sighed. "I would take Jude out of the room if we knew Trevor was drunk." His name was practically a sneer. "I cleaned up his bottles. I got ice packs when he hit my mom... I listened to him when he said that he wouldn't do it again. But he did, again and again. It was so obvious that someday things would go very wrong, but I never told anybody. Not any friends or teachers or other relatives. I kept his secret and I watched him kill my mom!"

Lena held her close. "It's not your fault, Callie. I promise you, it's not."

"Why didn't I say something?" she wondered. "No wonder nobody in our family wanted us! I'm just as bad as he is!"

"No, you're not, and anyone who didn't want you lost out on two amazing kids." Callie scoffed. "If you'd really had any idea of how things would end up, would you have kept quiet?"

She sniffled and shrugged. "I don't know."

"You've had to be like an adult for so long, I think you've forgotten that you still are a child. You couldn't have known, sweetheart, and you can't blame yourself."

They sat together for a long while until Callie finally started to calm down. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

Lena shook her head. "I'm glad you told me what's been bothering you. I wish I'd known sooner… Have you ever tried telling your father about how you feel?"

Callie shook her head. "I've never told anyone."

"I think it could help you."

"Why? If he cares, then he'll feel bad but nothing will be different."

"No, it won't change the past, but you need some way of letting go of this guilt. It's not your burden. Maybe he'll have some answer for why all of this started in the first place." Callie didn't respond, but Lena hoped her suggestion had gotten through to the teen. "Think about it, at least, okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

The twins tried to be extra nice the rest of the afternoon, knowing that both of their new siblings had a lot to deal with. They set up a movie night once Brandon got back home, wanting to give everyone at least a couple hours of normalcy.

When the five kids headed upstairs for bed, Mariana was surprised when Callie pulled her aside in their room and shut the door. "What's up?" she asked her big sister.

"I need your help with something."

"Okay."

"When you were trying to locate your birth mom… How did you find her?"

Mariana frowned, confused, and then realized where this was going. "Are you crazy?!"

"I want to be able to talk to Trevor, but I don't want the moms or Jude there."

"This is a really, really, really bad idea. Did you forget how totally awful everything with Ana ended up? Mom almost died!"

"No, I didn't forget, but this is different. I'm sure M-Stef's already done the cop thing; they wouldn't have let Jude see him otherwise. So I know it's safe, I just need to do it on my own."

"Why?"

Callie rolled her eyes. "If I don't want them to know, why would I tell you?"

"Because you want my help," Mariana pointed out.

"I'm going to find him whether you help or not. It'll just be faster if you do."

Mariana sighed. "I still think this is a bad idea."

"Noted."

"Okay. So the first thing I did was start looking at court records online…"

* * *

**TBC...**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Another warning for readers sensitive about the topic of self-harm.**

* * *

It took a couple days, but eventually Callie and Mariana's research paid off. Trevor was staying at a halfway house downtown. During lunch at school the following day, Callie found an empty classroom and used her cell phone to call the place for more information. She got a little nervous when the man on the phone mentioned that there were set visiting hours, but luckily one of the visitation periods was that afternoon. So after her last class, she slipped away from Anchor Beach and took a bus downtown.

As Callie walked through the front door, she tried not to cringe. She'd stayed at some really crappy places over the years, but this was bad. Many of the lights were burnt out or broken, the ancient wallpaper was peeling, and the linoleum floor had worn through in several places. There were a few dead roaches laying on the floor and she was pretty sure the object in the corner was an occupied mouse trap.

"Can I help you?" a bored-looking man asked. He was wearing a blue uniform, and she assumed he was supposed to be security.

"Um, I called earlier today. I wanted to visit Trevor Jacobs."

"What's your relation to Mr. Jacobs?"

"He's… my father."

He casually flipped through some papers on a clipboard beside his chair. "He's working today. I don't know if he's come back yet."

"Oh. Well, could you check?"

He fixed her with a Look. "He's not back yet."

"Okay. Could I check his room? Just to make sure."

The guard sighed. He wasn't supposed to let people in unescorted, but there was no one else to watch the door. If it would help get rid of this girl faster… "He's in 132, if he's here."

"Thank you."

The hallways looked worse than the lobby; there were a few holes through the drywall. She found Trevor's room and knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Apparently he really wasn't home from work yet. Callie didn't want to go deal with the guard again, so she just stayed there to wait.

A door opened to a room down the hall, and a man grinned when he stepped out and saw her. "Hey, sugar," he called. "What are you doing in here?"

It suddenly dawned on Callie that this was probably an all-male facility. And standing in the hallway alone may not have been her smartest idea.

"You deaf?" the man asked after taking a drag from his cigarette. She didn't answer. "Hey!" he yelled, but she still didn't respond. He flicked his cigarette into his trash can and shut his door. "Little bitch," he called to her before walking away.

Callie let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Hopefully Trevor would get back soon.

* * *

When Callie didn't meet up with the rest of the Adams-Foster siblings after classes ended, Mariana knew what that meant. She was supposed to tell everyone that her sister had a project to work on for school, but found herself unable to go along with the lie. She had a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Where's Callie?" Brandon asked as he joined the twins at a bench outside of Anchor Beach.

"I don't know," Jesus replied. "Did she say anything to you?" he asked Mariana.

She swallowed hard. "Yeah... I need to go talk to Mama."

Brandon frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Hopefully nothing. I'll see you guys at home."

"You want us to wait?" Jesus asked his sister. "Jude's at tutoring; we can all just hang out until he's done."

Mariana shook her head. "No, that's okay."

% ^ % ^ % % ^ % ^ %

Back inside the school, Mariana knocked on the open door to Lena's office. "Hey, sweetheart," she said when she saw her daughter. "What are you still doing here on a Friday afternoon?"

"Um… I know you're going to be really mad and Callie's probably going to be mad, but I don't care because I'm really worried for her."

Lena didn't like the sound of that. "What happened?"

Mariana sighed. "Callie wanted to go see her dad, but she didn't know where to find him."

Her eyes widened. "That wasn't by accident, Mari."

"I know, I know. But she said she'd find him with or without my help, and I thought it would be better if I just helped her. But now she's gone to see him and I'm worried something's going to happen to her. I'm sorry."

Lena sighed. "Okay, thank you for coming to tell me, but we are going to have a chat about this later."

Mariana nodded dejectedly. "I know."

* * *

As Callie leaned against the wall beside Trevor's door, she started calculating in her head how late she could stay there before the moms would begin to wonder where she'd gone. She saw some movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see who was approaching, praying that it wasn't the jerk from down the hall. The last person she expected to find was her little brother. "What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here?" Jude countered.

"You're supposed to be at tutoring."

"I ditched. You didn't even notice me following you."

Apparently Callie had been even more lost in her thoughts during the trip than she'd realized. "How did you get past the guard?"

"I told him I was with you. Why did you come here?"

Callie sighed. "I wanted to talk to Trevor."

"Moms said we couldn't see him without them," he pointed out.

She looked away. "I know."

Jude frowned a little as he stopped in front of her. "You kept things from me again."

"I know… I'm sorry for how that all came out. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Why didn't you tell me the truth from the beginning?"

"Because you were four, Jude. And as time went on…" she took a deep breath, "I didn't want you to have to remember all the things I did."

"I'm not four anymore. You can't treat me like a baby."

A slight, sad smile crossed her face. "You're always going to be my baby boy."

Jude was quiet for a long moment. "Do you really think he never wanted us in the first place?"

"I don't know… All these years, there was a little part of me that held onto the ridiculous fantasy that Trevor would come rescue us from foster care. And I knew it could never happen, but I still hoped for it."

"I did, too," Jude admitted.

"When I saw him at the courthouse… that little part wished he'd be mad about the adoption. It wouldn't have done any good, but… it would have proved that he wanted us. That he cared about us even a little. But he didn't say anything. He CONGRATULATED us… How can someone just be okay with the fact that their kids now belong to strangers? How can someone care that little about their own kids?"

"I don't think he doesn't care," Jude softly spoke up. "He was telling me some of the things he remembered from when we were little… Maybe he just knows that he really screwed up. He made a big mistake before and he's scared of making more, so he thinks he's even worse for us than people he doesn't know."

Callie wiped her eyes. "Maybe… I'm scared I'm too much like him."

"Why?"

"Well, he hurt himself with alcohol. And I… I hurt myself with a knife."

Jude's head snapped up. "What?!"

Callie took a deep breath. She'd never told her little brother about her self-harm before, but she didn't want to keep secrets anymore. They required too much energy, and she was so completely exhausted. Without a word, she raised the hem of her shirt, showing him the scars on her right hip.

Jude's eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. "W-why would you do that?" he wondered.

"It was a coping mechanism," she explained, using what she'd learned from therapy. "A dangerous one. It was my release when I felt guilty and angry. Punishing myself made me feel better."

Jude couldn't tear his gaze away from the ugly pink scars. Judging from the number of marks, she'd felt guilty a lot. He felt horrible for not realizing that something was wrong. What if it had gotten so bad that she'd killed herself? For a very long time, the two of them had been all each other had in the world. Some brother he'd been. "Do the moms know?"

"Yeah, they do. And they've been helping me. But that doesn't change what I did in the past. Trevor started off just hurting himself and eventually started doing things that hurt other people, too. I'm scared that I'm going to do the same."

"I don't think you will," Jude assured her. "He really, really messed up before he wanted to get better. But you're already trying to get better, right?"

Callie nodded. "I am, I promise."

"That means you're stronger than him," her little brother explained. "You're the strongest person I know."

She smiled a tiny bit. "Thank you."

"So… what else don't I know?" Jude wondered.

"Nothing," Callie assured him. "No more secrets."

Jude nodded. "Good." He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his sister.

As they stood there together in the hallway, neither of them realized that they were in danger. Down the hall, the cigarette that had been carelessly discarded by one of the other residents had by now set the garbage can on fire. Behind the closed door, the flames were starting to spread.

* * *

**TBC...**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Because you guys are awesome... Chapter 8, a day early. And there's no cliffhanger on this one, I promise.**

* * *

Stef looked down when she heard her cell phone ringing and saw Lena's picture on the screen. She was at the police

Stef looked down when she heard her cell phone ringing and saw Lena's picture on the screen. She was at the police station, having just finished a patrol, and was about to get started on some paperwork. "Hey, my love," she answered the call.

"We may have a problem," Lena told her.

"Uh-oh. Which one of the five?"

"Callie. Although Mari's going to need a punishment, too."

"What happened?"

"Callie's gone off to find her father by herself. Which Mariana made possible using her fledgling detective skills."

"Oh, my God. Deja vu all over again."

"I know."

"Did Mariana at least give you what she found about Trevor?"

"Yeah. He's staying at a halfway house downtown. 67th and Amherst."

"Okay, I'll meet you there."

* * *

Callie and Jude were still in the hall at the halfway house, waiting for their father to return. "Was our mom happy?" he suddenly spoke up.

"What?"

"With… everything, was she ever happy?"

"Yeah, Jude, she was happy sometimes."

"Like when?"

"Um… she loved singing. And we'd make forts sometimes in the living room out of blankets and chairs. And she loved going to the beach."

"Is that why you like the beach? It reminds you of her?"

Callie nodded. "Yeah… It's really unfair that you don't remember much about her."

Jude sighed. "I wish I did."

"I know," she started to reply, but it turned into a scream as some ceiling tiles fell in a few feet away. Fire and ash followed, and other debris also began to rain down from above.

"What's going on?" Jude wondered.

"We have to get out of here!" Callie took his hand and started to pull him down the hallway. A few other residents came out of their rooms to investigate the commotion and eventually a fire alarm finally started a blare.

More burning tiles fell down right in front of them, along with support bars and some ductwork. The carpet caught fire, blocking their path. Callie pulled Jude back, looking around for another way to go. They started down another hall, looking for a door. The smoke was getting thick, and Jude started coughing heavily. Callie pushed him down to his hands and knees. The floor was disgusting, but it was better than asphyxiating.

"Just crawl, okay?" she choked out. Jude nodded.

Up ahead she could see a window, and Callie just hoped that it would open. They were on the first floor, so climbing out wouldn't be too difficult. However, she quickly discovered that there were blocks in place to keep the window from opening more than two inches. "Stay here," she told her brother as she looked around for something to use to break the glass. A few doors down, there was a stool sitting in the hall - it was easily throw-able.

As she started to make her way toward it, there was an ominous creak. More debris fell from the weakened ceiling, and Jude couldn't do anything but watch as it landed on her.

"Callie!"

* * *

Outside, Lena and Stef had both arrived at almost the same time. As they got out of their cars, they were confused as people started running out of the building in front of them. Then the fire alarm started blaring and they could smell the smoke. "Is Callie in there?" Stef asked her wife.

"I don't know!"

"Okay, call 911. I'll be back." She was about to go into the building when Trevor ran up, having just returned from work.

"What's going on?" he asked the women. "What are you doing here?"

"Callie may be inside," Stef explained. "We think she came here looking for you." Without another word, Trevor turned and ran inside. She quickly followed.

The interior furnishings were basically kindling; the walls, ceilings, and furniture had started to burn. Both of them stayed low down as they navigated the smoky hallways. Trevor obviously had an advantage since he knew the layout, but halfway to his room, their path was obstructed by flaming debris.

"Callie?!" he yelled. "Can you hear me?" When he didn't get a response, he back-tracked a few steps and cut through a common room in order to reach another hallway. There was a pile of broken metal and fiberglass tiles on the floor - and then he saw something moving beneath it. "Callie!"

She looked up at the sound of Trevor's voice. "I'm stuck," she told him. The rubble was across her lower body, pinning her down. "Jude's over by the window."

"Jude?" Stef inquired in surprise. Through the smoke, she could just barely make out the form of her youngest. There was a second, smaller pile of burning debris between them.

"He followed me here," Callie explained as Trevor surveyed what his daughter was trapped beneath. He found the two largest pieces of metal that almost everything else seemed to be resting on top of.

"I'm going to try to lift this up," he told Callie. "Do you think you can slide out?" She nodded. A jagged edge sliced into Trevor's hand as he raised up the debris, but he ignored the pain. As Callie slid out, they could see that she had a large gash on her left calf; her jeans were already becoming soaked with blood. She cried out in pain as she moved her leg.

Once she was free, Stef climbed over the debris toward her son. She took off her jacket and used that to beat out some of the flames on the floor. "Jude, come here, love," she told him as she reached to help him get to her.

With only a slight hesitation, he hurried past the small fire. Trevor helped him over the larger debris pile and offered a hand for Stef, too.

"Are you okay?" she asked Jude. "Are you hurt?" He shook his head. More debris fell down behind them and Stef wrapped her arm around him in order to protect him. "We need to go, now," she told Trevor. He lifted Callie up into his arms. She grimaced as her injured leg was jostled, but didn't say a word.

As they made their way back toward the exit, Callie was reminded of being six years old, at the end of a day at the beach. Just like when she was a little girl, her father was carrying her toward home. The destination had shifted - she had new people in her life that cared about her. But as she looked up at Trevor, she realized that maybe she hadn't lost both of the original people that had loved her. After all, he'd just run into a burning building for her. Despite how much she'd tried to bury her childhood memories - both bad and good - they WERE real. Maybe the truth was that Trevor did care about her and Jude but he hadn't been ready for them. It wasn't fair that his issues had caused them all so much grief, but there was no magic fix for that now.

* * *

Outside, the fire department had arrived and was starting to take charge of the situation. Lena ran over as Stef, Jude, Trevor, and Callie came out of the building. Trevor set Callie down on the grass and Jude instantly attached himself to her side.

"I was scared," he whimpered.

Callie held him tight. "I know."

"Oh, God, Callie. Your leg," Lena said as she realized that the teen was injured. Stef turned to get the attention of one of the paramedics that was on the scene.

"I'm okay, Mama," Callie replied - and then realized what she'd said. Lena was stunned speechless. But Callie didn't want to take it back, if that were even possible. It had finally felt right.

Not having overheard, Stef knelt beside her daughter and started trying to put pressure on the gash on her leg. Callie flinched hard. "I know, sweetheart," Stef sympathized. "But you've lost enough blood already."

"I'm sorry, Mom," she told her, making Stef's head snap up. As she recovered, she reached to take Callie's hand.

"I know. We'll talk about it later. The important thing is you're okay. We're all okay."

Lena knelt down beside Callie and Jude and wrapped her arms around both of them. And as Trevor watched the four of them, he knew that his kids really would be fine. There were a lot of things in his life that he wished he could change, but Callie and Jude had found where they belonged.

* * *

**TBC...**


	9. Chapter 9

The paramedics quickly started attending to the different injuries on the scene. Stef ended up leaving Callie and Jude with Lena so that she could help out with keeping bystanders behind the safety line and getting things organized. She was a cop, through and through; it was in her nature to help out whenever needed.

A red-headed paramedic smiled at Callie as she finished wrapping a bandage around the gash on the teen's leg. Both she and Jude were sitting on the back of her ambulance. "All set," the woman told Lena. "I'm recommending that both of them get a ride over to the ER to get checked out for smoke inhalation. They'll also stitch up her leg and a tetanus booster wouldn't be a bad idea unless you remember her last one was recent."

"We'll get that taken care of," Lena promised. The paramedic nodded and moved on to her next patient.

As Callie watched the still-chaotic scene around them, she saw that Trevor was sitting on a nearby bench as one of the other paramedics wrapped a bandage around his hand. She slid off the back of the ambulance and limped over to him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Trevor grinned. "Just a scratch. I've had worse. How about you?"

"I've had worse," Callie easily replied. His smile dimmed slightly as he realized that probably wasn't just bravado. "Thank you," she told him. "You didn't have to help us."

"Yes, I did. It's not a big deal."

"It is," she protested.

"It was the least I could do... I'm so sorry, Callie. For so much. I understand if you hate me."

"I - I'm trying not to," she conceded, and was attempting to put words to the rest of her thoughts when Stef approached them.

"Love, you should not be standing on that leg," she told her daughter. "We're going over to the hospital."

"I'm fine," Callie tried to protest.

"I want to hear someone with an M.D. say that," Stef countered.

Trevor chuckled. "Go with your moms," he told his daughter. "We can talk later, right?"

"Promise?" Callie wondered.

He nodded. "I'm here whenever you're ready."

* * *

When Lena, Stef, Callie, and Jude finally got home that night, the rest of the kids were anxiously waiting to greet their siblings. "Are you guys okay?" all three asked, voices overlapping. Callie was limping in on crutches, her left leg wrapped up and not supporting any of her weight.

"Yeah," she replied. "We'll be fine."

"I don't want any more excitement in our lives for at least a month," Stef told all of the kids. "Do you think you guys can manage that?"

They all silently looked around at each other. "How about a week?" Jesus negotiated.

% ^ % ^ % % ^ % ^ %

Mariana helped Callie get upstairs to their bedroom and started pulling together the other girl's pajamas and toiletries for her. Finally, when there was nothing left to keep her occupied, she turned to face her big sister. "Are you mad at me?" she quietly wondered.

Callie shook her head. "No. I'm glad that you told Mama. I was being really stupid." Even without the fire, going to the halfway house alone had not been a good idea. She shuddered as she thought about what the guy in the hallway could have done to her. Jude sneaking out and following her could have also ended in disaster, and she never would have forgiven herself. "I wish I'd listened to you."

Mariana's eyebrows rose; that wasn't something she heard very often. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry if you're going to get in trouble, too."

She shrugged. "It's okay... Did you find out what you wanted?"

"I didn't really get a chance to talk to my dad… But yeah, I think I got what I needed anyway."

Mariana sat down on her bed. "This is complicated, isn't it? Family stuff?"

"Yeah… Seems like I went from having none to too much, all at once."

"Mmm… You know, I'm kind of jealous."

Callie raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"I mean, I know I wouldn't want to trade lives with you - no offense."

"None taken."

"But… When I found my birth mom again, after all those years… She just wanted to use me for money. She didn't want to be my mom. She never wanted to be my mom. But your birth dad…"

"I don't think he's trying to be my dad."

"Really?"

Callie shook her head. "I think he knows it's too late for that... I mean, he'll always be my father, but he actually called the moms 'my moms'."

"Wow... that must have been a little weird."

"Actually, it just felt... right. I've spent so long trying to figure out whether I loved him or hated him... Maybe a little of both. I'll never forget what he did, but maybe I can forgive him. And myself."

Mariana frowned. "What did you do?"

"Nothing. That's the problem." The younger girl looked confused, but Callie shook her head. "Nevermind. I'm sorry finding Ana again wasn't what you wanted."

"Yeah… You need help walking to the bathroom?"

Callie nodded. "Thanks."

* * *

In the morning, as the rest of the kids took turns getting showers in the bathroom, Stef and Lena brought Callie into their room for a little chat. Before either of the moms could say a word, Callie decided to start the conversation. "I know I screwed up," she admitted. "I shouldn't have tried doing things on my own. It was dangerous and stupid and I'm sorry."

WHAT she had done wasn't the only thing that the women were concerned with. "Why didn't you feel you could talk to us?" Lena gently asked.

Callie shrugged. "I don't know... Habit, I guess. I've never had anyone that I could trust before. Any time I thought I did, I got burned. So I had to just look out for myself and Jude."

"Are you still worried that's going to happen?" Stef wondered. She just shrugged again. "Do you trust us, Callie? We want an honest answer, whatever it is."

"I'm trying to," was the best that she could come up with.

"Okay. 'Trying to' doesn't become 'You do' without some work and some faith," Lena pointed out. "Going around us isn't trying to trust us."

She nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

Stef took her hand. "We are both fully aware that adoption isn't a magic fix. With the twins, there were a lot of rough patches when we started fostering them. Even after the adoption, it took months before they really accepted that they had a home and we weren't going anywhere."

"The physical and emotional scars from your past don't get erased just because a judge signed some papers," Lena added. "We know that part of being your moms is going to be teaching you how to trust us and your new brothers and sister and other people in general. But, what that judge's signature does mean is that we won't give up on you. Ever."

Callie nodded and wiped her eyes with her free hand. "Okay. I'll try to do better."

Stef smiled. "That's all we can ask."

There was a knock on the door. "Moms?" Jesus asked from the hall. "Should we just get cereal and fruit and stuff for breakfast?"

Stef looked at her watch; it was too late in the morning to worry about a big Saturday breakfast. "Thank you, Jesus," she called back to him.

"I guess I should get dressed and eat," Callie said as she started to get up. Lena helped her get down the hall, then returned to the master bedroom. Once the door was shut, the moms both laid on their bed together.

"We've still got another discussion to have," Stef pointed out.

Lena nodded with a sigh. "I know. About what we're going to do with her and Jude and Trevor going forward. This isn't going to be simple."

"Never is."

* * *

**One chapter left...**


	10. Epilogue

Trevor Jacobs was sitting at a table at the 9th Street Diner when the door opened and Callie and Jude came in with Stef. The siblings headed straight over to where their father was waiting.

"Hey, guys," he greeted them with a smile. "I'm so glad to see you. How's the leg?" he asked Callie. This was their first meeting in the three weeks since the fire.

She just shrugged. "It's okay. I stopped using the crutches last week."

"Good."

"And I'm not grounded anymore."

He chuckled. "Also good."

"How's your hand?" Callie wondered.

He held it up and wiggled his fingers. "Good as new."

They all figured out what they wanted to eat and gave their waitress their order. Trevor couldn't help a smile as he watched Jude and Callie enjoy their milkshakes.

"I've got something for you two," he told them. "It's nothing much, but…" He took a little slip of paper out of his pocket and slid it across the table to them.

Callie frowned slightly as she read it. "An address?" she asked.

"That's where I'm staying now. It's a pretty good place. But I talked with your moms and they agreed you can know exactly where to find me, whenever you want."

"Really?" Jude asked Stef.

She nodded. "Yeah. Your father's been doing really well, and we know that it's important to both of you to figure out where he fits into your lives. For right now, we'd still like to have me or Mama go with you if you want to visit, but you can talk on the phone whenever you want and if you want to set up a regular lunch date or something like that…"

Jude grinned. "Awesome."

"What do you think, Callie?" Trevor asked.

She smiled a little, too. "That'd be good."

"So how's school going?" he asked the siblings. "Oh, did you get your new karate belt?" Jude nodded. "Callie, do you do any sports?"

"Not really. Therapy's my main extra-curricular at the moment… But I started taking a photography class at the community college. I was thinking about putting a real camera on my Christmas list this year..." She gave Stef a hopeful look.

"We'll talk about it," was all she was willing to promise. Christmas got expensive fast with five kids.

"Maybe I could help out?" Trevor offered. "Pay for part of it. At least that way I'd know I'm getting you something that you want."

Stef sized him up for a moment, but then forced herself to shake off her defensiveness. Taking care of Callie and Jude wasn't a competitive sport. Teamwork was usually helpful with kids. "That could work," she agreed. "We'll discuss it when we're figuring out plans for the holidays."

Trevor smiled. "I'll start saving some money away. How about you?" he asked Jude. "Any idea what you want for Christmas?"

He shrugged. "Video games? Or maybe a bike? I dunno."

"Well, I know it's a couple months out, but think about it. I want both of you to have something from me under your tree."

Jude nodded. "Okay."

"So, back to school. Anything interesting going on?"

Stef listened as the siblings prattled on about the recent happenings at Anchor Beach. Having their father around was undoubtedly going to make life a bit more complicated, but she knew they'd work it out in the end. Everybody deserves a second chance. And kids can never have too many people in their lives that care about them.

* * *

**Fin.**

**A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has left feedback along the way. With Christmas approaching, I'm going to do one final, holiday-themed installment for this series. So, look out for that this weekend.**


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